


Bury Them.

by leithvoid



Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: Mention of Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leithvoid/pseuds/leithvoid
Relationships: Lance Corporal Blake/Lance Corpoal Schofied, Tom Blake/Will Schofield
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Bury Them.

Today was special, sad. Two men stand silent in a field. The sun shines down on them. One is home, the other is visiting. Their eyes were painted sanatia blue, cheeks lightly dusted with pink from the light breeze. The two men had been out in the field for some time, digging. ‘He’d of loved this, yknow?’ The older of the two spoke, breaking the comfortable silence. 

‘I know.’ The younger spoke. Talking wasn’t his strong suit, but it wasn’t Joe’s either. They both knew how to suppress the trauma. The wind rustled the tree’s around them. Most had already come into fruit, but some never left their blossom stage. Will caught himself staring at one of the blossoms that had never ripened.

‘Could you tell me?’ The older asked Will, who looked over to him from the trees. ‘Again.’

Will sighed, taking the shovel’s wooden handle from Joe. He started to dig. ‘Blake and I pulled the pilot out of the plane, I told him we should put him out of his misery. But this is Tom, he was fresh-faced.’ Joe chuckled at this, it was true. ‘He told me to get the German some water, so I did. That’s when he was stabbed.’ Will stopped digging for a moment.

He thought about just how stupid he was, to let Blake convince him to save the pilot. If he’d just shot him. If he’d not turned his back, maybe he would still be here. ‘When I killed the German, three bullets. Tom struggled for a bit, he tried to stand up. I tried to lift him but I was too weak. But eventually, he couldn’t stand and I couldn’t hold him.’ Joe sat down next to the tree which was in its pot.

‘I held him close, he told me to write to your mother. To tell her he wasn’t scared, that he loved you both. I stopped applying pressure to the wound. Tom had already lost too much blood. I just wanted to comfort him, so I held his hand. I told him how I’d get to you. How you were like him, a little older…’ Will trailed off, leaning on the shovels handle. His heart ached.

‘Then he died.’

The wind blew through the branches as the two men pulled the new seedling from its pot. This tree was for Tom. Today was the first year since he’d died. Joe thought it would have been nice to invite Will over to help plant the seedling.  
Joe knew that there was more between Tom and Will. There were things about their relationship he’d never know. ‘Thank you, for being there with him.’ Joe said, the words reminding him of the ones he spoke to Will back in the war. The two stood for a while after they had packed the dirt back in and watered the cherry tree. 

Remembering.


End file.
